2020 has been quite a strange year because of the global pandemic known as the Coronavirus and with so much doom and gloom flying at us from all directions when we have a chance to celebrate, we welcome it. Let's welcome astronaut Doug Hurley, an Apalachin native along with Robert Behnken from SpaceX's Crew Dragon as they safely returned to Earth on Sunday afternoon.

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Hurley's mission with the SpaceX Crew Dragon began in May when he and his partner docked their capsule on the International Space Station. They completed the first part of their mission on the first crewed test flight for the Commerical Crew Program (CCP).

Hurley and Behnken spent more than 100 hours working on science and technology demonstrations at the International Space Station. If you'd like to see all of the different experiments the two performed as part of the Crew Dragon you'll find them here.

The hard work of the astronauts paid off as they safely returned to us on Sunday, August 2, and whether you missed it or want to see it again, we've got the video recap of their splash landing.

 

I was talking to a friend on Sunday and he said, "With all the 2020 craziness, why would they want to return to Earth?" My friend isn't wrong, but it is nice to know that they've returned home safe and it's exciting to think about how this launch may change the future of space visits.

[via NASA]

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